


Not too long in the tooth

by SoftNFluff



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Introspection, Non-Sexual Age Play, Playdates, Pool, Sad Hank, Swimming, Trans Connor, Trans Gavin Reed, Trans Hank Anderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-04-07 14:09:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19086643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoftNFluff/pseuds/SoftNFluff
Summary: Hank is getting too old to raise a son like he used to. But maybe he isn’t quite too old yet





	Not too long in the tooth

**Author's Note:**

> You should follow me on tumblr (@lil-Detroit) for fic updates and info about how to giveme requests

Hank was getting too old for this. The thought struck him matter-of-factly, as he gazed across the wide expanse of patchy yellow grass that would soon house a blow-up swimming pool, his knees scuffing in the dirt. Too much was out of place. The lawn needed trimming, the dirt was dry and cracked and it would take time to find a bearable spot to place the pool. Hank stood upright, and his legs creaked. It was a reminder that he was past the days of chasing Cole, his first son, around the park, Hank thought. 

Of course, his second son required a little less upkeep. Even if the events of the day already made Hank want to groan in exhaustion. 

Connor was having a playdate. An outsider would have thought the android too old to have one, perhaps seeing it as some flaw in Connor’s psyche. Hank knew better; as well as being his son, Connor was his little. Sometimes, Connor needed to enact the childhood he had never had. 

“Are they here yet?” Connor asked, peering up at Hank with hopeful brown eyes. Like his Papa, he too was “surveying” the grounds for set-up. 

“Not yet, kiddo. Nines told me he was just getting Gavin ready.” The Android had sounded harried on the phone, the composure in his voice not quite complete. Gavin could be a handful, Hank was sure. “Why don’t you help me put up the pool while we wait?” Connor had begged and begged for a swimming play date when the weather had grown warm enough, and Hank had finally relented and bought Connor the blow up turtle pool he had eyed on their past few trips to the hardware store. 

Connor nodded, a child’s attempt at seriousness, and bustled over to the shed where the pool lay like a deflated giant. It was a bright, acid green that Hank was almost definitely sure no turtle truly resembled, and when blown up, it was supposed to be large enough to fit two medium-to-large sized adults. 

Hank’s fingers attempted to fasten into the material, slipping over it like rubber. “Can you help Papa pull this out, kiddo?” 

“Ok!” As if Connor had been zapped with energy, he grabbed hold of the plastic and dragged it onto the grass. Hank winced, cautioning him to “make sure it doesn’t scratch!” 

Hank dragged the air pump out besides it, cursing under his breath as he fiddled with the tiny opening. It was all so much work, much more than what he remembered from Cole’s childhood. Perhaps he had only had a plastic pool back then, just small enough to fit Cole. 

When Hank finally looked up, an apology quick on his lips after the last curse, big brown eyes stared back down at him. “Need help, Papa?” 

Hank considered saying no, but at the behest of Connors silent puppy pleading, he relented, handing the pump to Connor. 

By the time the pool had been set up, and Connor changed into his shark swim trunks, Hank had just decided to retreat to the solitude of the deck chairs he had set out for himself and Nines when Nines pulled into the driveway. 

Nines was driving Gavin’s car, and Gavin jittered in the seat besides him, usually arrogant face for once lit up in a grin wider than necessary, and Hank allowed himself a soft smile as the RK900 gently held Gavin in place. When the door opened, Gavin all but busted out, Hank wincing at the energy. 

“You give him sugar or something?” Hank called out, fighting back a laugh. 

“Gavin has simply been excited for our visit.” Two large hands clapped down on Gavin’s back, both as a show of affection and a means of keeping him in place. “He has informed me so throughout our morning.”

“I’m glad to see you too, kiddo.” Hank waved his hand at Gavin. It wasn’t a lie; while he held little patience for the prickly Big Gavin that sometimes appeared at his house in search of Connor, Little Gavin was a sight to behold. All energy and smiles, he reminded Hank about some of his favorite parts about raising a kid. And Hank would be damned if Gavin didn’t look adorable in the little denim shorts and dinosaur t-shirt Nines had undoubtedly dressed him in. 

“Would you mind if I changed Gavin out here? I didn’t want to change him at home, since he’d need a nice dry set of clothes to keep comfortable.”

“Course not. Con, look away.” It was only courtesy, of course; both Connor and Hank understood the certain intimacies of Gavin’s body without having seen it. 

By the time Hank deemed it safe to look back, Gavin was in a bright blue and green parrot-themed swimsuit, arguing heatedly with Nines about having to wear a shirt. 

“Daaaaaaddy. You always say I should be proud bout my body, so why do I have to wear a stinky shirt?.” Gavin pouted, mouth jutted in the extremest of frowns. 

Nines gave him an exaggerated huff, pinching his left chest. “But my poor kittenlet will hurt his little body if he doesn’t wear his swim shirt. Unless,” a devilish smirk crossed Nines’ face, and Hank held back a snort. “Daddy can put sunscreen on you?”

Gavin balked, as if insulted by the very idea. His feet scuffed the grass before finally grumbling out “Shirt.” towards the ground. 

Meanwhile, Connor had grown antsy. Resigning himself to the fact that he wouldn’t be free of intrusion, Hank pushed himself up from the chair, guiding his son to the pool, one hand on his side and the other in his arm. 

Unlike the softness that bulged under Gavin’s white swim shirt, or the faded pink lines that traced under Hanks chest and up to his nipple, only a little ridge showed where Connor’s chestplate had been removed and replaced. That, and two little “puppy ears”, one on each of Connors sides. They fit snugly against Hank’s palm. 

Once upon a time, Hank had asked him if he liked how seamless it all was. Hank had relished his own scars, marking them as a symbol of a hard-won battle (transitioning had been much harder for non-straight trans people when he had gotten his surgery). Connor had simply replied that he didn’t mind one way or another; he had had many bodies, after all, all with their own flaws. 

“Papa, give me a boost!” Connor pleaded, pointing towards the water. It was only a few feet up, but Hank couldn’t help himself. With as much energy as he still had, he helped Connor into the water. 

“Precious little things, aren’t they?” 

Hank jumped. Nines was behind him, a finally calm Gavin now splashing happily in the pool. Hank hadn’t realized they had moved. 

“Course they are. Devils too, for sure, but what’s not to love?”

As the sun climbed higher in the sky, Hank leaned back farther on his chair. Nines had stretched out on the chair besides him, watching Gavin and Connor play water games together. 

Light giggles filled the air, and Hank narrowed his eyes as two mischevious figures clambered from the pool. They knelt in the thick runoff from the edges of the pool that spilled over, Gavin seeming to lead Connor in a project Hank most likely didn’t want to know about. 

Nines, on the other hand, seemed rapt in their building, quickly switching to indifference when the two trundled over, giggles barely contained. “We have a present for you!” Gavin announced in a singsong voice, placing the contents of his hands quite conspicuously behind his back. 

“Oh? What is it, sweet pea? Did you make it yourself?” Gavin nodded, giggling harder and dropping a mud pie over Nines’ lap. 

As Gavin dashed off, Nines hot in pursuit, Connor made his way over to Hank, hands behind his back. “Hi Papa. Would you like a surprise?”

“Aw, no thanks honey. I think I’ll pass.” Unlike Nines, he wasn’t wearing swim trunks. “Why don’t you show that to Nines?”

Connor nodded seriously, trundling over to interrupt Nines’ “tickle therapy” on a screaming Gavin through dropping his own mud pie onto the androids back. 

As Hank watched the tickle fight unfold, he couldn’t help the longing that walled up in his stomach. That could have been him with Cole, all those years ago. Could have been him, chasing screaming children around the mud-stained yard. But now? Hank sank back into the waiting slats of the lawn chair. As the plastic bowed beneath him, contorting against his body, Hank thought it was more a spiders web than a chair, just another tool to keep him in place. 

Nines glanced up from the chaos, stuck between one hand flat against Gavin’s chest as the other spidered over Connor’s stomach. “I think this is a good time for a story, guys. What do you think?”

Brown hair bobbed next to Nines, while Gavin slumped dramatically back onto the ground. “I guess.”

“Can you tell us the one about the big mean dragon Daddy?”

“No honey. In fact, I think Hank should tell you your story. Daddy needs to clean himself up.” The small smile the android shot Hank made him quite aware that that wasn’t the only reason. The sincerity behind it stopped Hank from grumbling at the patronization. 

Two Littles toddled over, Connor kneeling himself politely by Hank’s chair while Gavin plonked himself into Hank’s lap. Hank grunted, shifting Gavin over so Connor could clamber on. The two together were a bit heavy, but as he balanced them on his lap, he realized that the weight was quite manageable. 

“What’s the story, Papa?” Connor asked, kicking his legs off from Hank. Gavin leaned closer, the usual hyperness exchanged for rapt attention. 

As Hank began it, he cast one last look out back at the yard. Sure, the yellow grass cracked under the chair, and the pool slopes and spilled into brown eddies, but the most important thing was the two people who sat on Hank’s lap, eyes so wide like he was greater even than the stars.


End file.
